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I came across a post, She Is Jazz, and Good for Her, by a dad about reading a new picture book to his four-year-old daughter. At one point, after a few pages of what he expected of a picture book with a little girl on the cover, he turned the page and he says this:

“I read the words aloud before fully realizing what they said. And then I paused. And then a wide smile spread across my face and I started laughing.”

He was surprised by the direction the book took with two brief sentences.

“I have a girl brain but a boy body. This is called transgender.”

What the book, I Am Jazz, delivers is, as this dad reader says, “a delightfully modest and straightforward explanation of what it means to be transgender.”

The book is based on the experiences of co-author Jazz Jennings. I say kudos to Jazz, her co-author Jessica Herthel, and illustrator Shelagh McNicholas, and to all the writers and publishers who help to expand our sense of what it is to be a human being. Bravo! And thank you.

And the first book in the Tree and Tower series, The Thirteenth Tower. I’m very happy to introduce you to two fantasy novels by a very talented client of mine, Sara C. Snider, who lives in Sweden. Lucky I am to have edited and done the design for these two books.

Sara weaves an engaging and fascinating tale of a young woman in a world with magic like no other I’ve read. Here’s the blurb from the back cover of A Shadowed Spirit:

She used to be called Emelyn. She used to be nobody. Now she is Siyan—a creature of magic known as an And’estar. But Siyan doesn’t understand what that means, just as she can’t control the power that has woken within her.

Addigan worked her entire life to master the Art of magic and become a respected Magister, only to fail her final test. Scarred and desperate to prove her worth, Addigan pursues rumors of trees of power and a mysterious people called And’estar.

When Siyan heads into the dense and dangerous forest searching for answers, she doesn’t realize Addigan is coming for her. In this twisting chase of hunter against hunted, Addigan must choose how far she is willing to go to prove herself. And Siyan must let go of everything she knows—and everything she loves—if she is to gain control over her power. Even if it kills her.

In a journey that follows the intertwined lives of two women, A Shadowed Spirit is a mystical tale that redefines the boundaries between life and death, dreams and reality, and what one is willing to sacrifice to achieve the happiness she seeks.

And here is the blurb for the first book, The Thirteenth Tower:

Abandoned as a baby, young Emelyn’s life as a housemaid in the quiet village of Fallow is unremarkable—and empty. That is, until a host of magical creatures arrives and inflicts terrible misdeeds on the townsfolk. Inexplicably immune to their enchantments, Emelyn joins a pair of Magi intent on stopping the cause of the trouble—and who claim to know of her parents, promising Emelyn answers to a lifetime of questions.

But the answers Emelyn seeks prove to be more elusive than she hoped, and the world outside Fallow more perilous than she imagined. Magical creatures roam the land over, attacking yet another town before coming after Emelyn. The key to her survival—and finding her family—lies deep within her, if only she can conquer her doubts and believe she is more powerful than she ever dreamed.

In a journey that explores facing one’s fears amidst the uncertainties of an unknown world, The Thirteenth Tower is a magical tale of discovery, growth, and of love’s enduring strength.

I recently asked my newsletter readers to beta-read a novel (and, thanks to a quick response from one of them, have suspended the reading until I do some serious rewriting) and asked for their preferred ebook format.

Kindle and PDF were the choices, 9 and 4 respectively. Not an epub insight.

So I thought I’d survey you folks and see what your preference is on this front, so three polls. Please vote and, if you like, add why in comments.

I’m a fan of YA dystopian and fantasy fiction—The Hunger Games and the Divergence trilogy being among my favorites—so it was good to find this notice of new novels in that genre with its heroines: "7 New Badass YA Heroines for You to Love." A couple of these definitely caught my eye.

One question, though—why are there no badass male heroes in YA fiction? I’d like to read one—let me know in the comments if there’s such a critter available.

Meanwhile, if you’re a fan or writer of YA dystopian and fantasy fiction, check these out.

My client, Normandie Fischer, has publishedHeavy Weather, a Carolina coast novel. I can testify that it’s a good read because I edited it, and you know how picky I am. Normandie is a skilled writer and she tells a gripping tale with very real characters that I ended up caring about. A summary from Goodreads:

Death, life, family, domestic abuse--Heavy Weather explores all these themes in a memorable and compelling narrative. When Annie Mac's life explodes like a storm at sea, she is helpless to fight back. Left for dead, her two children targeted by her abuser, her life appears to be over. The people who help her show her how to weather a storm that she cannot control.

Here’s the description from Amazon, where it’s available in print and Kindle formats:

It takes a town to save a child. That town is Beaufort, North Carolina.

Annie Mac’s estranged husband vows that nothing will stop him from getting his baby girl. Not Annie Mac and certainly not that boy of hers.

Only four blocks away, Hannah Morgan lives in comfort with her husband and dog, making pottery and waiting for her best friend to come home. When she discovers the two children cowering in the bushes and their mama left for dead, it doesn’t take her long to set her coterie of do-gooders to some extra-strength do-gooding. Add in Clay, a lonely police lieutenant yanked out of his comfort zone and into the heart of this small family, and who knows what will happen?

As a fiction writer, I'm always searching for craft-related books, always trying to glean something useful for my next story. I would say Ray Rhamey's book stands head and shoulders above many such books I've read.

Among many topics presented here, the author discusses POV shifts, elements of story, description techniques, and, of course, language. The beauty of it is that the reader is not expected to grasp such concepts based on definitions alone, as we have a multitude of examples resulting in ease of flow and many aha moments.

For anyone who wants to improve and make his/her writing compelling, there is no better guide than Rhamey's Mastering the Craft.

This is not a dry, pedantic `how to' book on writing. It is an entertainingly easy to follow guide on not only what to do, but just as importantly, what not to do.

Before answering that question, though, I really could use submissions for flogging. There are none in the queue, which means you'll just have me blathering about something. Okay, enough pleading . . .

Let’s hear it for us! The article reports on the results of scientific studies of readers of fiction and concludes that they are a special breed. For instance, one study concludes that kids who read the Harry Potter series are “better people” because of significant improvement in their perception of stigmatized groups such as immigrants, homosexuals, or refugees.

Another conclusion: fiction readers make great friends as they tend to be more aware of others’ emotions. In a study of “emotional transportation”—how sensitive people are to others feelings—people read a story and were asked how they felt about what happened to the characters. Empathy was only apparent in people who read fiction and were emotionally transported.

Interestingly, people who read literary fiction (versus popular fiction) scored consistently higher on identifying facial emotions solely through the eyes.

Lastly, and I really like this one, because of the psychological processes used to navigate both fiction and real relationships, fiction is not just a simulator of a social experience, it is a social experience.

You WILL become a better writer by reading this book and implementing the suggestions made by Mr. Rhamey. And they’re not vague or theoretical suggestions, either—they are clear, definitive, concrete, and 100% useful. It’s a brilliant and entertaining resource book on the craft of writing.

In my opinion, the best way to use this book is to first read it cover to cover, pretending it’s an online course or weekend workshop. Gobble it up whole, so the cells of your writer’s brain absorb and integrate the information. Then, as you write and revise, you can go back to refresh yourself on specific skills or techniques as you need them.

Here are three reasons I like and recommend this book:

The style and voice are friendly, engaging, encouraging, and genuine. There’s no huge ego behind the scenes, bestowing rules and regimens. Ray Rhamey is an unassuming guy who really knows his stuff, and his warm teaching style comes through the text beautifully.

Examples abound! By far the best way to improve writing and revising is to see before and after samples, and Rhamey has included a truckload. At every step we’re shown ways to improve word choice, sentence structure, characterization, description, dialogue, opening pages, and more. He draws from published and unpublished novels, other books on the craft, agent blogs, and even his own fiction.

The final section of the book includes the opening paragraphs of eleven stories, submitted to his online critique blog, Flogging the Quill. After reading through the book, critique these excerpts yourself, and see how your comments compare to those Rhamey made. The results are dramatic: do just a few of these and you’ll realize how much you’ve learned. Better yet, you’ll be ready to apply these critical reading skills to the revision of your own work.

Rhamey suggests “there should never be a good place to put your book down.” If you want to write a book that readers can’t put down, then Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling is a resource you can’t afford to be without.!

Yes, I’m plugging my new book, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling. But, if you believe the reviews by writers who’ve read it, it’s a gift that truly helps writers craft a strong story. And there’s time to order a paperback copy signed for the recipient if you order from my website.

Speaking of reviews, here’s a recent one from Amazon:

So MUCH great advice!

I've read a lot of books on the craft of writing, and I've come to judge these books based on how many passages I've highlighted or bookmarked. And man ... I marked up this book!

What I loved:

This book contains SO MUCH great advice - from big ideas of storytelling down to little facets of word choice.

His writing style is very easy to read.

He's included practical tips and exercises for the reader to put into immediate practice.

Not only will I recommend this book to all of my writing friends, I will also read this book again and again to master the concepts presented within its pages.

As a writer who is about to publish my first children's novel, Ray Rhamey's Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling is particularly useful as it gives you great insight on how to self-edit and make the story better.

The section on wordcraft was an excellent way to tackle the good, the bad and the ugly. The chapter on adverbs gave excellent advice on this often debated topic and the remaining chapters addressed those pesky words "without" and "as" that like to creep in and need to be weeded out.

Section 2 on the techniques of storytelling is a first class exercise in showing not telling. Throughout Rhamey uses examples which are illuminating and often humorous. Writers can be neurotic about having their work dissected but Rhamey shows us the humor in the exercise while always aiming to improve the reader's writing - to simply make us better.

My favorite chapter in the last section on storytelling is "Tension in your first sentence" - it made me rethink my opening lines and I believe I have made them better. Thanks Ray!